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Jordan caves: The portrait of Jesus- supposedly- found in the village of Saham in Jordan, close to where Israel, Jordan and Syria's Golan Heights converge

After lying hidden in a Jordanian cave for nearly 2,000 years, the fine detail is difficult to determine. But in a certain light it is not difficult to interpret the marks around the figure's brow as a crown of thorns.

The extraordinary picture of one of the recently discovered hoard of up to 70 lead codices - booklets - found in a cave in the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee could be the first-ever portrait of Jesus Christ, possibly even created in the lifetime of those who knew him, reports the Daily Mail.

The tiny booklet, a little smaller than a modern credit card, is sealed on all sides and has a three-dimensional representation of a human head on both the front and the back.

One appears to have a beard and the other is without. Even the maker's fingerprint can be seen in the lead impression.

Beneath both figures is a line of as-yet undeciphered text in an ancient Hebrew script.

Astonishingly, one of the booklets appears to bear the words 'Saviour of Israel' - one of the few phrases so far translated.

The owner of the cache is Bedouin trucker Hassan Saida who lives in the Arab village of Umm al-Ghanim, Shibli.

He has refused to sell the booklets but two samples were sent to England and Switzerland for testing.

A Mail investigation has revealed that the artefacts were originally found in a cave in the village of Saham in Jordan, close to where Israel, Jordan and Syria's Golan Heights converge - and within three miles of the Israeli spa and hot springs of Hamat Gader, a religious site for thousands of years.

According to sources in Saham, they were discovered five years ago after a flash flood scoured away the dusty mountain soil to reveal what looked like a large capstone.

When this was levered aside, a cave was discovered with a large number of small niches set into the walls. Each of these niches contained a booklet.

The codices range in size from smaller than 3in x 2in to around 10in x 8in. They each contain an average of eight or nine pages and appear to be cast, rather than inscribed, with images on both sides and bound with lead-ring bindings. Many of them were severely corroded when they were first discovered, although it has been possible to open them with care.

The codex showing what may be the face of Christ is not thought to have been opened yet. Some codices show signs of having been buried - although this could simply be the detritus resulting from lying in a cave for hundreds of years.

If genuine, it seems clear that these books were, in fact, created by an early Messianic Jewish sect, perhaps closely allied to the early Christian church and that these images represent Christ himself.